Update: I had a video that went with the link below, shared from youtube, however, it seems to have been taken down and I’m not interested enough to find out why. It happens.

I wasn’t sure how to title this part of the post. But since objectification seems to be the gist, that’s where I went. And I do think it’s become a worthy topic because I see more people than ever before objectifying men.

Openly gay performing artist, Steve Grand, made this video in what looks like his attempt to clear things up.

There’s not much more to say. Grand pretty much summed it up fairly well.

Shawn Balentine Hollywood Gay Stuntman

A stuntman in Hollywood, Shawn Balentine, just came out as gay and I guess this is a novelty of sorts. I’m not being glib about that. I would NEVER do that with anyone coming out. It’s just that we wonder about actors, but never seem to think about all of the people who make up the entertainment industry.

Layers

There are so many layers that make a man, and even though I wear my heart on my sleeve, I rarely allow even my closest friends or family to see all of me. I’ve always just wanted to be Shawn the happy-go-lucky guy who never showed the vulnerability underneath. And I’ve always wanted my nieceRachel and nephews to be so damn proud to call me Uncle Shawn along with my sisters and Pops and Mom.

I hate to rant about this because I like Downton Abbey, however, I think a good deal of the appeal Downton Abbey has had with gay men comes from the gay storyline of the character, John Barrow. I’m not sure I would have started watching if Barrow hadn’t had a gay storyline. I’m not saying that to take away from any other storylines in the show. I’m saying that because we…gays…have such limited content like this on TV we seem to gravitate toward whatever bone they decide to throw us.

And so far, that proverbial bone has been limited even on Downton Abbey.

Meanwhile, he blackmails the handsome young Duke of Crowborough, who he’d hooked up with at Downton one summer, to be hired as the Duke’s valet. But the aristocrat steals back incriminating letters Thomas was holding and destroys them, and Grantham hires weeping Anna’s future husband Bates anyway because there’s just something about Barrow.

The gay content has been limited and Barrow comes off looking as if he never has sex with anyone, ever. I wait every week for something to happen, and nothing happens, not even a hint. And maybe Barrow doesn’t have any sexual encounters. However, I find that hard to believe. There’s no way anyone is going to try to convince me that a single man as good looking as Barrow who is attracted to other men isn’t getting something, somewhere, on the side. I don’t care if it’s in Lady Mary’s closet or under a bridge a few miles from Downton. And, unfortunately, that’s just another way they twist and turn our culture around. It’s also the best way of gaybaiting to get gay viewers. If I had been writing that show I wouldn’t have included any highly explicit gay sex scenes. I might not even have included two men kissing. However, I would have let viewers know with subtle clues that Barrow finds discreet encounters just like millions of other gay men have been finding them since the dawn of time.

I’ll grant you Downton takes place long before the word gay even became used in reference to men who are attracted to the same sex. I’ll grant you there’s not much history because no one spoke about this topic openly until the latter part of the 20th century. But there’s no way you’re going to get me to believe Mr. Barrow didn’t get a little on the side from time to time. It just doesn’t make sense. And the fact that they never even suggest this in the Downton storyline bothers me, because contrary to what the hetero world might want to believe, men were having sex with men long before Downton Abbey’s time period. And I would bet they were having a lot of it. In any event, you can read the rest here. I’m curious to see what happens to Barrow as the final season winds down to a conclusion. I would assume it’s not going to be HEA. And that’s a shame, too, because a lot of gay men in the 20th fell in love with other gay men and they spent their lives together. Good lives. The hetero world just didn’t hear about them. And I think it’s time someone told them.

Author of over 100 published LGBT romance novels and stories, including AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN and best selling VIRGIN BILLIONAIRE SERIES. Hates beets.
New Hope, PA Palm Springs, CA
ryan-field.blogspot.com